by SJ McCoy
Her face turned bright red.
“I’m sorry. You asked for every word.”
She shook her head. “There’s no need for you to apologize. If anything, it helps confirm what I’ve always thought.”
“What?”
“That I’m just pussy to him. Well, apart from the in with my parents.”
“I’m sorry.” Austin didn’t know what else he could say.
She gave him a wry smile. “I guess you were right about me being sweet, huh?” She was trying to make a joke out of it. Trying to lighten the moment.
He didn’t feel very light. But he went along with her. “You are.”
She let out a little laugh. “And at least he thought you’d want one more go, before you sent me back.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m still waiting for the first go.”
Her cheeks colored up again, but she smiled. “What do you think. Is it official now? There’s no way I’m going back.”
Austin pursed his lips. “I was only joking around with you. Trying to make you smile again.”
“I know. But …” She let the words trail off and looked up into his eyes.
“It’d be hard to say no, but I think we have more pressing matters to deal with first.”
“We do.”
“I think I committed us to going along with Jade’s lie, didn’t I?”
She nodded. “I think you did.”
“And you’re not mad at me?”
“How could I be mad? You only did it to defend me.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t listen to him talk about you like that. And when he said you belonged to him.”
“I don’t.”
“I know.”
Roscoe chose that moment to stick his nose up her skirt again. At least it made her laugh.
“Shall we have another glass of wine and take it outside?” she asked.
He nodded slowly. “If I have another one I won’t be able to take you home.”
She held his gaze for a long moment and then smiled. “That’s okay.”
~ ~ ~
Amber’s heart started to race. Did he understand what she meant? She wasn’t telling him that she wouldn’t mind having to take a cab. She was saying that she wanted to stay with him.
He poured their wine and she followed him back out onto the deck. She sat on the sofa, but he didn’t come and sit beside her. He took one of the chairs instead.
She took a sip of her wine and stared out at the beautiful view. The lake shimmered in the late evening sun.
He gave her rueful smile. “Are you sure you’re not mad at me? I know you don’t want to have to lie to your parents.”
“I’m not mad. I’m grateful to you. Thank you.”
“Of course.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“No. Why would I be?”
“Like you said earlier, you don’t like drama. I don’t either, but I seem to have landed us in the middle of it with all this.”
He smiled. “You’re the only one who hasn’t caused any of it. Jade started it. Milo made it worse by calling me, and then I exacerbated the situation.”
She blew out a sigh. “But it’s all because of me. And now you’re sitting over there.”
He smiled through pursed lips. “I’m sitting over here because of what you said before we came out.” Her tummy flipped over at the way he looked at her. “You don’t mind me having another drink—which means I can’t drive you home.”
She nodded. “And just so we’re clear, I don’t plan on calling a cab.”
He shifted in his seat. “I didn’t for a moment think that you did.” He chuckled. “And that’s why I’m over here. If I sat next to you right now, I’d be as bad as Roscoe.”
She laughed out loud at that, glad to relieve the tension. “You’d stick your head up my skirt?”
He laughed with her. “Not that exactly, though it’s tempting.”
Shivers chased each other down her spine at the thought of it.
Austin looked more serious now, though. “I … I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think it’d be better if we wait.”
Her heart sank. “Why?”
“Because when we go there, I want it to be about us.”
She frowned. “What else would it be about?”
He made a face. “I just got off the phone with your ex, remember? He gave me his blessing to sleep with you.”
“Oh.” She nodded sadly. “I hate that he can throw a shadow over us—over what happens between us.”
Austin got up and came to sit beside her. “I do too. I don’t want him to. That’s why I’d rather wait. I’d rather we got there in our time.”
He ran his fingers down her bare arm, making her wonder how she was supposed to wait.
She gave him a sad smile. “Are you saying I should call a cab?”
He held her gaze for a moment and then smiled. “You can if you want, but I’d rather you didn’t.”
“I don’t understand.”
He dropped a kiss on her lips. “You can stay. I’d like you to. Just because we’re not going to sleep together, doesn’t mean that we can’t hang out.”
“For the night?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
She smiled back at him. “Okay.”
He set his glass down on the table and leaned back against the sofa. She set hers down and leaned against him. His arm curled around her, and she looked up into his eyes. “Do you think we need to figure out how we’re going to play this whole thing?”
“I do, but not now. Not tonight. I want tonight, or at least, what’s left of it, to be about you and me.”
She slid her arms up around his neck. She liked the sound of that. He lowered his head until his lips brushed over hers. He made her feel so many things. He made her feel safe in a way that she wasn’t used to.
As his tongue slid inside her mouth and he kissed her more deeply, he made her feel sexy. He crushed her against his hard chest and his hand roved over her, grazing her breast, squeezing her ass—he made her feel aroused. But knowing that they weren’t going to go there—weren’t going to do that, tonight made her feel relaxed. She hadn’t made out with a guy and known that he wasn’t going to try and take it further since high school. Of course, she wanted him; she was aching for him, but one part of her was glad that there was no pressure. She lay back on the sofa, and he came with her, pressing himself between her legs, making her moan into his mouth. If this was his way of making sure that she’d want him desperately by the time he finally made love to her, he was doing a good job of it.
Chapter Thirteen
When Austin opened his eyes, he stared up at the ceiling. He hadn’t thought he’d be able to sleep at all. Not here, alone in his bed, with Amber just down the hall in the guest bedroom. He blew out a sigh and rolled onto his side.
Was he some kind of idiot? He was starting to think he must be. He’d had more than one opportunity to sleep with her—and he kept putting it off. She would have willingly come to bed with him last night. She wanted to. He knew it. But it wouldn’t have been right. Even while they were making out on the sofa, he’d kept hearing Milo’s voice echo in his head. I’ll let you fuck her. It made him shudder. That asshole should have nothing to do with anything that happened between Amber and him. But if they’d had sex last night, the thought of him would be hanging over their heads. It wasn’t right.
That wasn’t how he wanted to begin things with Amber, and he was seeing this as the beginning of something—hopefully, something special. Granted, lying to her parents wasn’t a great start. Pretending to be her fiancé … He shook his head. What had he gotten himself into?
The bedroom door opened a crack and his breath caught in his chest. If she came in here now … His cock woke up in a hurry and stood to attention at the possibility.
He let his breath out in short laugh when Roscoe came in.
“Come here, boy.” He patted the bed.
Roscoe
jumped up and came and licked his face.
“Morning buddy. Where’ve you been?” He gave him a stern look. “Don’t tell me you went in there with her?”
Roscoe panted at him, looking pleased with himself.
“Don’t look at me like that you old perv. I hope you didn’t try to hump her.” Even as he said it, Austin realized he wouldn’t blame him if he had.
He sat up at the sound of movement in the hallway. “Are you up, Amber?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“It’s okay. I’m awake. I’ll be right out.” He rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and hurried into the bathroom.
She was making coffee when he got to the kitchen.
“Here, let me do that.” He reached around and took the pot from her.
Her eyes widened as she turned to look up at him.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She dropped her gaze, but her lips quirked up into a little smile. “I just didn’t expect to come face to face with your bare chest before I’m even properly awake.”
“Oh.” He hadn’t even thought to put a shirt on. “Sorry.”
She looked up into his eyes. “I’m not.”
She stepped closer, and he slid his arms around her, cursing himself again for not having taken her to bed last night. She felt so warm and soft—making him feel hot and hard. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on top of her head. Damn, he wanted her.
She stepped away from him with a rueful smile. “Sorry.”
He chuckled. “Not as sorry as I am.”
She raised an eyebrow, and he nodded.
“I’m not going to say what I’m thinking. I’m sure you can guess. What I will say is that I hope you don’t have other plans tonight?”
“I don’t.” Her cheeks were touched with pink, but there was no hesitation in her voice.
“Good.” He got on with making the coffee. He turned to smile at her as a thought struck him. “I was about to say I’ll go and put a shirt on, but now that I think about it … you should probably get used to seeing your fiancé’s naked chest.”
She chuckled and let her gaze travel over him, making him ache for her. “I’d be happy to.”
“Good.” He wanted to close his arms around her again. Wanted to undress her and finally get to see her naked chest, but this wasn’t the time. He needed to find out what she wanted to do with the day—he was hoping that she wanted to spend it with him, but he didn’t know that yet.
~ ~ ~
They drank their coffee sitting out on the deck. “It’s so beautiful here.” Amber couldn’t get enough of the view. She shot a sideways glance at Austin. The mountains and the lake were beautiful, but they paled in comparison to him.
He didn’t notice the way she was looking at him—and that was probably a good thing, she was all but licking her lips at the sight of his lean, muscled chest, and those arms … She took a big gulp of her coffee and burned her mouth. It served her right!
“I’m glad you like it. I love this place. What do you want to do today?”
“I need to go home and get changed.” She was hoping that they might do something together, but she didn’t know what his plans were.
“Do you want to go soon?”
She nodded sadly. He probably had work to do. He’d need to take her home.
“Hey.” He touched her arm. “I don’t mean I want to take you home and leave you there. I’d like to take you to breakfast—if you want to go? I …” He looked wary. “I wondered if you want to spend the day with me?”
“I’d love to!” She laughed. “Sorry. I was hoping, but then I thought maybe you had to go to work.”
“No. Well, I do have to show a place this afternoon, but that’ll only take me an hour. I could drop you home while I go and then pick you up afterward, if you like?”
“That’d be great. I have a few things I need to take care of, too.”
“Are you going to call your parents?”
“Yeah.” She blew out a sigh. “Are you sure—?”
“I’m sure. I was thinking about it last night.” He smiled through pursed lips. “While I was lying there awake.”
She had to laugh at that, she’d spent most of the night tossing and turning and wishing that she had the nerve to go into his bedroom. “You, too, huh?”
He smiled at her. “You were the same?”
She nodded. It felt good to admit it to him. “I barely slept a wink.”
He laughed.
She sucked in a deep breath, but she needed to say it. “And I don’t plan on sleeping much tonight either.”
He chuckled and slid his arm around her shoulders. “That’s good because I don’t plan on letting you.”
A rush of heat swept through her. So, tonight would be the night. She couldn’t wait!
When they got to the apartment, he leaned across the console and dropped a kiss on her lips. “How long do you need?”
She gave him a puzzled look. “You don’t want to come in?”
“I didn’t want to invite myself.”
She laughed. “If you’re going to be my fiancé, then you should probably know your way around my apartment. Oh, but I guess you already do, don’t you?”
He nodded.
“Have you managed it for long? Who owns it?”
He smiled.
“Oh! You do?”
He nodded. “I rented it myself while I was remodeling the house, and when I left, the owners wanted to sell. It’s a good place, and I know its history.”
She smiled. “Well, I guess we won’t need to worry about you knowing your way around when my folks come then.”
“No.” He looked uncomfortable now. “I suppose we should spend some time figuring out what else I should know before I meet them.”
Amber’s smile faded. “Yeah. We should.” She shook her head. “You have to promise me that you’ll tell me if you want to change your mind.”
He squeezed her hand. “I won’t.”
“Okay. Come on up then. I need a quick shower, but I won’t take long. And then you have to let me buy you breakfast.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve taken care of everything so far. I don’t want you to feel that you always have to.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
~ ~ ~
Austin looked around the apartment. He was surprised how neat and tidy everything was. He’d kind of expected two sisters to be messy. He wouldn’t normally go inside one of his properties without giving the tenants at least forty-eight hours’ notice. He was only required to give twenty-four, but he didn’t like to do that. As far as he was concerned, he was going into someone’s home—and in your home you should be able to relax and have a mess if that was how you lived.
He started when the front door opened. Jade came in and raised an eyebrow at him.
“Morning. You’re here early. Or …”
He smiled. “I’m here early.”
“Cool. Did you guys figure things out last night?”
He nodded slowly. He wasn’t sure it was his place to tell her about his conversation with Milo.
He was relieved when Amber came out of her room. Her hair was still wet, but she was dressed.
Jade looked at her. “What did you guys decide?”
Amber looked at Austin. He loved that she wanted to check with him before she spoke.
Jade laughed. “Whatever it is, you’re in it together, right?”
Amber nodded. “Yeah. Milo kind of made sure of that.”
“What do you mean?”
“He called Austin last night.”
Jade turned to him. “What did he say?”
Austin was hardly going to repeat it. He looked at Amber. “Basically, he told me that he hoped I’d had fun with Amber, but that I need to send her back to him now—because she’s his.”
“Jesus! He is unbelievable. What did you say?”
He gave Jade a wry smile.
“I’m afraid he pushed my buttons. I told him that she wouldn’t be coming back. That she doesn’t belong to him … And that we’re engaged.”
Jade laughed. “Why do I get the impression that the conversation wasn’t as civil as you’re making it sound?”
“It wasn’t.”
“No,” said Amber. “Austin’s putting it nicely.” She shot him a grateful smile, and he was glad he’d given Jade the G-rated version.
Jade made a face. “I hate to think what he really said.”
Austin nodded, but didn’t comment.
Jade looked at Amber. “Does this mean that you’re going to go along with it?”
Amber nodded.
Jade turned to Austin. “And you’re okay with it?”
“Yeah.”
“Awesome! So, what happens now? Are you guys going to spend the week at your place?”
Amber frowned. “Why?”
Jade shot Austin a smile before going to Amber. “Because, sweet little sister, if you’re going to be able to convince Mom and Dad that you two are engaged, you should probably be more relaxed around each other than you are. And if they’re going to go over to Austin’s place, you want to look like you’re used to being there.” She glanced back at Austin with a smirk on her face. “Right?”
Austin didn’t know what to think. She had a point, but … he had to smile. Why did there have to be a but? He’d love it if Amber wanted to spend the week with him. He met her gaze. She looked uncertain, but he got the feeling that that was more about what he might think.
He made his decision and nodded. If they were going to go through with it, they might as well make the most of it. “She has a point, you know. We already said that we should spend some time getting to know each other better.”
Jade looked as though she was about to laugh. And Austin could guess why—she knew what kind of getting to know each other he was thinking about.
To his relief, Amber smiled. “Well, if you don’t mind …” Her smile faded. “I hadn’t thought about it, but they are going to want to see your place—and they are going to judge you by it.”